Stationery makers, enthusiasts upset over hike in GST on fountain-pen ink

Penmaker says that increase in GST on ink is bad news for students and manufacturers

Manufacturers, dealers and lovers of the fountain pen across the country have criticised the increase in GST on ink from 12% to 18% starting this month, saying the hike would not only be a blow to students but also to an environment-friendly mode of writing.

“Fountain pen is the most sustainable form of writing instrument. Encouraging its use would see significant decrease in plastic pollution caused by single-use pens,” said Kaushik Maitra, managing director of the Kolkata-based once-popular Sulekha Inks, which recently resumed production — to an encouraging response — after a gap of nearly three decades.

“With the hike in GST rate, ink is bound to be more expensive, but we aren’t increasing the prices right away because of the difficult economic situation people are already facing, even though this hike, coupled with significant increase in prices of raw material and packaging material over the last few months, will majorly hit our bottom line and sustainability,” Mr. Maitra said.

Chennai-based Aditya Bhansali, who runs Pen World, an online stationery mart, and is a distributor of Krishna brand of inks, said the hike had dealt a blow to “our nascent and small industry”. “Ink is a commodity that helps students write and not something the government should look to profiteer from. Increase in prices has already led to the failure of planning by many companies and this hike will only add to the burden of people trying to use eco-friendly and sustainable tools,” Mr. Bhansali said.

Kolkata-based brand strategist Suvobrata Ganguly, an avid collector of fountain pens and popular — as Chawm Ganguly — in the community of users, said the need of the hour was to reintroduce the fountain pen and ink in every school. “The use-and-throw pen ends up choking our drainage, our riverine systems, ultimately ending up in our ocean floors, in our landfills. Add to this the humungous carbon footprint that these plastic pens have and you will understand the monster we are fighting against. While many advanced countries are once again embracing the fountain pen, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction,” said Mr. Ganguly, who calls himself a ‘fountain pen evangelist’.

Chennai-based penmaker L. Subramaniam, who manufactures the popular ASA brand of fountain pens, also called the GST revision “bad news” for the student community and local ink manufacturers. “Most of our local ink makers predominantly cater to students. Even a small change in pricing can make a big impact as these inks are used by students across income groups.”

He added: “I am not worried much about imported inks or premium brands getting more expensive, as they serve a different segment. But among students, especially those from lower-income groups, even a ₹20 ink bottle is seen as just about affordable. This increase, then, may be a final nail to the coffin of student inks.”